<p>I just got some damp-rid, and I am really surprised at the difference it makes! I found it at a Sears hardware store. It was supposed to be stocked at k-mart, but it was gone. I found the empty space where it should have been.</p>
<p>wis…We had the windows removed and screens put in. There is airflow now so maybe we will start to see some drying out. We are not covered for flood damage and the insurance reps won’t get to us for a while. They did not even set up an appointment as of yet. The policy is very vague…*note to self—review every policy and get info before taking policy in the future.</p>
<p>I hope someone still has some damp-rid.</p>
<p>We once had a flooded basement and my ancient next door neighbor brought me a big bag of charcoal. She said to put them in bags and hang them all around the basement. It worked! The charcoal soaks up the ick smell.</p>
<p>Good luck momma-three. Our basement filled with water during Floyd, and we were not covered. I had a leaky roof then too, and for that damage there was insurance coverage. On an unrelated matter, we had water damage at our office from an upstairs neighbor’s leaky water heater, and that was covered, but we were told a “flood” (waters rising from the ground up) would not have been.</p>
<p>On the drying out - it took a while for the smell to go away, but it did. Powdered things will absorb water, so if the Damp Rid is not available, use baking soda or other type of powder. </p>
<p>For our office we had the fans and dehumidifiers, and we did not get mold on the walls that were not ruined by the water pouring from above ( but some walls and ceilings were replaced.) I would not have used the restoration company except that our insurance paid for it.</p>
<p>Some interesting info here:</p>
<p><a href=“http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rebuild/recover/fema_mold_brochure_english.pdf[/url]”>http://www.fema.gov/pdf/rebuild/recover/fema_mold_brochure_english.pdf</a></p>
<p>I found the info about ductwork especially interesting.</p>
<p>Any ductwork that has been exposed to floodwater has to be removed and replaced.</p>
<p>We have rented a professional fan from a local rental company on previous occasions – it was ~$20 a day or so. We have a dehumidifer in the basement running much of the summer – helps keep the allergies down to a dull roar, too.</p>
<p>After the water clean up, we resorted to kitty litter (bags and bags) when a small pipe burst and spread an inch of water across the unfinished basement. Large quantities for a small price. Yes, a mess to clean up later. But, as it works, you can see how it pulls water out of the concrete floor. This is more than just tackling the smell.</p>
<p>My experience with Damp Rid: as it soaks up humidity, it turns to liquid. Great for an ordinary musty summer smell in, say, the laundry room.</p>
<p>What is a reasonable setting for the dehumidifier?</p>
<p>Depends how much moisture in the area. Put it on medium and see how long does it run to stop, adjust it lower when it does not stop. You also want to make sure the rating of the unit is big enough for the job(room) otherwise you are going to burn it out.</p>
<p>When you know you have a lot of water, run it for 3 days in high and let it rest for 3 hours then run it again, manually.</p>
<p>I think the size is good. How long should it stop between runs? I have at 50% now. Still have that musty smell.</p>
<p>We keep ours at 30-40% year round. But our sump pump runs a lot, even when we’ve had no rain, due to our location near a pond</p>
<p>We’ve had water intrustion problems at several homes and we also live in the hot, humid south. I find that our portable dehus must be set no higher than 35% to do an effective job of keeping the overall RH of the rooms they’re used in <40-45%. One doesn’t have a setting <50% so I keep it on continuous run except during dry spells in the winter.</p>
<p>You can buy small hygrometers for about $10 - $25 that will help you monitor the effectiveness of your dehus. You may be surprised at how much difference there is in a large space, especially if you have any air infiltration around doors, fireplace openings, etc. I shoot for about 40% but in the spring and fall, when the HVAC doesn’t run much, it’s hard to get the RH that low when we have days and days of rain.</p>
<p>You may want to check out Jomax products; they make good cleaners and primers for use in mold remediation. Initially, I had to buy them from a contractor supply company but some are now available at the big box hardware stores.</p>
<p>Good brochure in link given in post #25. They say keep humidity below 40%.</p>
<p>iglooo,</p>
<p>you need to run it for a LONG Time until the place is DRY first. The thing is running because the sensor inside told the unit that the surrounding air is not 50% yet.</p>
<p>Set it at 35%. That’s low! It does feel humid at all today here at 45%. By the way my basement was not flooded. It’s just damp with musty smell. Fortunately in my case, it drains out to the garage.</p>